Geri Allen's Tribute To Mary Lou Williams On The Kansas City Film Set

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Geri Allen recorded this interview with me on the movie set of Robert Altman's Kansas City. Where she played Mary Lou Williams and paid tribute to her words and music.
Digging thru old interviews .... On the film set for the Altman movie Kansas City I watched an amazing band playing the role of legendary jazz musicians who frequented the jazz scene there: Among them Mary Lou Williams (Geri Allen), Lester Young (played by Joshua Redman), Coleman Hawkins (Craig Handy), Ben Webster (James Carter), Count Basie (Cyrus Chestnut), Hershel Evans (David Murray), Freddie Green (Mark Whitfield), Walter Page (Ron Carter), and Jimmy Rushing (Kevin Mahogany), Christian McBride, Olu Dara, Russell Malone, Don Byron.
It wasn't so much who they were playing but what and how well they played. Some of my favorite moments were never released....just jams as the musicians started improvising between takes...Like Russell Malone starting a tune with Christian McBride and then Ron Carter joins in.

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Chapters

1. Geri Allen playing piano in the movie Kansas City (00:00:00)

2. Geri on Mary Lou Williams as a person (00:00:23)

3. How Mary Lou Williams changed Jazz (00:00:38)

4. Geri Allen did a literal transcription of William's composition "Lullaby of The Leaves" for the movie (00:01:30)

5. "She was playing Be-Bop when "Charlie Parker was in short pants." (00:02:38)

6. "After a gig Thelonious Monk would say, "Let's Go Up To Mary Lou's" (00:02:50)

7. Working with Harry Belafonte on the film set of Kansas City (00:05:48)